King and Lionheart
by Readergirl37
Summary: A story about my OTP I wrote. Hermione is attacked and they have to figure out who did it. Sorry that's lame and vague! It's my first fic so please be nice!
1. Chapter 1

He was excited. He had found breakthrough to their problem. He dashed home or at least to his quarters. Where she was.

His gorgeous girl and her brilliant mind. She had been very affectionate that morning. She made him a cup of coffee and a pot of tea. When she had leaned up to kiss him he asked if anything was wrong. She had said, "No I just l-" and stopped like she had caught herself just in time. And kissed him. Finally he had to leave, right after they pulled apart and he checked her forehead.

For a fever, she guessed. One more kiss and he told her he had to leave. This was her least favorite part of the day. But he had to go. Be a part of the war effort.

She told him she'd be in the library when he got home. Or depending on how late he was, she'd be in their bed, reading. She had once confided to him that even with all their wards, she didn't feel safe until he was home. He had been late some nights and he would come home and see her pacing or in bed with a stack of read books.

He thought his idea would work, but he would run it by her first. He loved her amazing mind. Despite their age differences, they could easily bounce ideas off of each other.  
He opened the door and easily went through the wards, which accepted him. He checked the library and she wasn't there. He checked his watch. It was late enough she'd be in bed, but still awake.  
He flew up the stairs, eager to share his idea.  
He saw the comforter and blankets had been ripped off the bed. And in their bed, was his gorgeous girl, sleeping.  
Was his original thought. But she didn't sleep with her eyes open and her head at an awkward angle. She was dead.

When he walked closer, he noticed a hastily scribbled note. It read:  
To revive me  
Get the poison out  
it's in my mouth  
- Hermione  
He kissed her and found a lump by her cheek. He pulled back and took it out with his fingers. It looked like a piece of apple. He put that in a vial and magicked it to his lab.  
Her chest started rising a bit more and her eyes moved. "Sev-rus?" She asked, her voice a whisper. She saw two of them.  
That was when he saw the blood. It was all over. On her, soaking into the sheets, the walls, the carpet. He picked her up.  
"Sev-us?"  
"Shhhhh." He said.  
She leaned her head against him and said  
"I love you Severussss."  
"This you. Not the one over there."  
He was speechless. No one had ever told him that they loved him. But she held many firsts for him.  
"Look." She slurred. "If you are the real Severus, I love you I love so you so much. But if you're the fake please go. I don't want him to ever see me like this. You have to leave. He'll kill you."  
Severus agreed. He would find out who had done this. And they would pay.  
The phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" paled in comparison to his wrath.  
"What if I stay and kill him?" The other Severus suggested and grinned coldly.  
"No, no, oh please no don't hurt him hurt me instead just don't hurt Severus." She tried to plead.  
"Why?" Was the evil one's response.  
"Please I love him and I'm his. Only his and I can't deal with this world without him. He means the world to me and oh gods don't hurt him!"  
His only reply was "What happens when he doesn't want you any more?"  
"I will be his until he doesn't want me. I'd prefer forever..." Was her perfectly said response.  
He'd prefer forever too. He gently set her down in their large bathtub.  
He summoned several potions as he diagnosed her.  
Broken ribs, broken left arm, sprained ankle, dark bruises in abundance and cuts all over her body.  
He coaxed some SkelGrow down her throat, along with pain potions and then her eyes started closing.  
"Hermione?" He sounded alarmed, she thought sleepily.  
"Hermione! Stay awake! Listen to my voice! "Okay." She said. He had an amazing voice. It easily made it number two on reasons she was attracted to him. Number one being his amazing brain.  
"Hermione?"  
"Mmmm?"  
"I'm going to give you a potion and I need you to take it okay?"  
"M'kay." She said. She took the sky blue potion. It tasted like lemonade.  
He told her that he was going to start dealing with her cuts and bruises. He held her hand during that, knowing it would hurt. She cried out a few times. Whoever had done it had cut deep, in very surgical looking cuts.  
Oh yes. They would pay. As he progressed, he noticed that she was in her knickers. He frowned while cleaning out her cuts located by her ankle. She was wearing a sweater this morning, with a skirt. He remembered because she looked so stunning. She had caught him staring and had blushed. He loved her. But he was scared to say it. Didn't want to "jinx it" as the muggles would say. But he came to the conclusion that The bastard  
stripped her down  
tied her to their bed  
and hurt her  
He felt fury rise up at this, but looked at her, he stopped and decided to wash her up. He delicately used a flannel to get off the sticky potions and balms. She was looking at him, with an expression he couldn't decipher and then asked," why are there two of you?"  
She reached out to touch the hallucination. Her fingers went through. "He's not here is he?"  
"Hermione, are you hallucinating?"  
"Yes, I think so."  
"Take this."  
She took the green potion he handed her and the other one disappeared.  
"Better?" He asked.  
"Bett-r." She responded.  
He did a diagnostics test on her head to make sure she didn't have a concussion or anything wrong.  
She didn't.  
"Can I sleep now?" She asked, her voice still a whisper.  
He picked her up bridal style and told her she could. He carefully carried her and managed to duplicate the bed after a charm to make the room bigger. All while carrying an unconscious witch in his arms.  
He tucked her into the bed closest to the bathroom and changed into pajamas. He moved the beds together. He crawled into an empty bed. It felt odd without her. It took him longer to fall asleep than when his arms were around his witch.  
He woke up with a pleasantly warm back. Still groggy, he found her curled up against him in an odd way of spooning. He pulled her over him onto his bed so he was spooning her.  
He put his arms loosely over her and buried his face in her hair.  
She always smelled like vanilla. Whenever he smelled it, he thought of her. It was comforting now.  
But the smell used to drive him insane because it would linger so long and remind him of /her/. A person whom he had tried desperately to avoid because he didn't want to get close to anyone.  
Especially not one third of "the golden trio" who could for sure be used against him. With any form of relationship from death eaters.  
But she had saved him that, long before he would let himself talk to her.  
She had helped him one time when he was close to death after a meeting. It was not the worst state he had ever been in, but she had found him. Helped him even though he had been her nastiest teacher.  
She healed him and what astonished him was that she cared. She helped him and got him to his quarters. What he didn't hear was her fury at him almost dying by a group of psychopaths and no one else cared about the man who risked it all.  
Didn't hear her vow, that she would never let that happen again.  
A few meetings had passed since that point. She researched in her free time for solution. She found him after those meetings, with the help of Harry's map. Helped him, even when he didn't want her to. Which was all of the time. She saw how vulnerable he was when he slept, when she knocked him out one time to heal him. He was so stubborn. And one day, she came to help and it wasn't that bad, he said. She healed him and when he was awake, she performed the most complex piece of magic she had ever done. It needed time to form, and she left.  
She went back to her dorms and collapsed in her bed. For two days, with her bed curtains drawn. The last few days before Christmas break. Everyone was worried, especially him, considering he was the last one who saw her.  
No one knew that. The first time she helped, he told her to tell no one. She told him she never would. He was shocked, no one trusted him. He thought she would go running back and tell everyone. Or at least the-boy-who-lived-to-be-a-pain-in-his-arse or the daft Weasley boy.  
But she didn't. He woke up and there was another him.  
Like a living breathing him. It was an extraordinary piece of magic. There was a panic among the staff.  
Hermione Granger was missing and no one knew where she was. It was determined she never left the castle. So she was still in the castle somewhere.  
There was only two people in Gryffindor were her and some first year boy. As soon as every student was on the train, he went to Gryffindor tower, to where he hoped she would be. It was his fault. She could be anywhere from Slytherin territory to anywhere, including the room of requirement and if she was there, it would be damn near impossible to find out what she wanted and used the room for.  
He went to Gryffindor tower and found sixth year dorms. He managed to figure out whose beds belonged to whom. The one with the nightstand covered with books and closed curtains had to be hers. He pulled them back and saw a weakly disillusioned, sleeping Hermione. She wouldn't wake up. He levitated her, and they traveled to his quarters. He removed the spell once there. No one saw them. He got her on a couch. He diagnosed her and  
she was drained. She used too much magic by herself. Magical draining was deadly. He summoned a house elf and asked it to bring some food. It brought a lot of food and left.  
He looked at her. She was in a healing sleep. He needed to make potions to help her recover while she slept.  
So he did. He brewed, not needing a book. He brewed methodically, slicing and stirring. He made the potions with ease. About an hour later, he checked on her. He figured out that she'd be asleep for at least on more day. So he ate and kept watch over her. Around one in the morning, she woke up after two and a half days of sleep.

He didn't mean to fall asleep but that smell-that damned vanilla smell lulled him to sleep. When he woke up, a lot of food had been eaten. She was awake and standing over him.

"Professor? Professor Snape?" She asked.  
"Hmmm?" He said, still half asleep.  
"It's me."  
"So you're awake now?" He asked with more clarity.  
"I thought I left your rooms." She said, with confusion.  
"You did. That magick you did knocked you out for almost three days, while invisible by your own hand, everyone was worried about you and you missed two days of classes, people worried Death Eaters took you or worse.  
"You were worried about me, Professor?"  
"I was the last person to see you before you went missing. Unofficially of course."  
"That is-TWO DAYS OF CLASSES?"  
"Calm down. Mostly reviews and fooling around. "  
"Of course not in your class."  
"Definitely not." He said.  
"May I ask you what the hell you were thinking?"  
Around a bite of sandwich, she asked,  
"Professor?"  
"Out for two days straight. No one knew where you were. You could have died- you could have lost your magic!"  
"But it was for a good cause." She quietly defended.  
"And what cause was that, Miss Granger?  
"You." She quietly admitted.  
Confusion shot through his mind.  
"What exactly was that spell's intended purpose?"  
"I used it to take form of an aspect of you from part of your life."  
"He's supposed to be me at Death Eater meetings? Are you mad, girl?"  
"Well-"  
"You could have died for a spell that could have gone faulty on my behalf and I would not only have more blood on my hands, I would be held responsible for your demise!"  
"Did you think of that?" He demanded.  
She answered with a question of her own, "Did it work?"  
The question threw him off.  
"Yes."  
"Okay, you just need to duplicate and place memories into it, teach it to act like you. It should work, although I recommend you try it out with class or something before you send it to the Death Eater meetings. He'll get hurt, but he's easily heal able and you can be safe and no more almost dying from them and you can access his mind undetected by other people, like a robot or a puppet and control him. And my magickal signature isn't on it. So there's no need to worry about finding that it's not really you."  
He was touched by the idea that she nearly died-in a roundabout way-for him, for his safety. She then collapsed.  
He caught her, and managed to move things around to change the couch to a bed. And waited once more until she woke up to give her those potions.  
She shouldn't have woken up that soon.  
What happened? Damn it he should have given them to her when she did.  
He went to the loo and then grabbed a book  
to read, and transfigured his chair to something very comfortable. He put instructions by the potions that she would notice when she woke up. But that book stayed on the table. The vanilla smell lulled him to sleep. It was a combination of several things, lack of sleep, the smell, his exhaustion, insomnia, the nightmares he would never confess to having. He was out like a light in a second.  
He dreamed of things he couldn't remember and he kept waiting for nightmares. They never came. But when he woke up, all he could remember was vanilla.  
Miss Granger had taken the potions as per his instructions and slept again.  
It was odd that their roles had reversed, he mused. He checked for a fever, any signs of her condition worsening, but there were none. He did notice her shivering. He put his cloak on her as he tried to remember where the blankets were. He went off to go get them from his bedroom closet.  
During that time, Hermione had woken up in panic, and calmed when she saw where she was. She also was comforted by his cloak. It was very warm, like she had imagined. It smelled like potions ingredients and spices. If she had to name a scent that defined Potions, it would be the smell of his cloak. She always wondered what it would be like to walk around this drafty castle with this cloak. It was warm and nice and she barely stayed awake.  
She saw him come back and pretended to be asleep. Slow, quiet breaths.  
He put a few blankets on top of her, and then turned his back to coax the last embers of the fire back to life. She gratefully sank into the warmth. Most of all, she clung to his cloak. She fell asleep to the smell of it.  
He watched her while she was sleeping for a moment.  
She was on her side and was curled up and one of the blankets was pulled up more than the others.  
She shifted and seemed to bury her face in it. He was curious what it was, and then he heard her say, "Professor?  
"Yes?" He asked.  
"Professor!" She sounded alarmed.  
"Yes Miss Granger?" He asked.  
She started mumbling things he couldn't understand and then a  
"Professor Snape please wake up!" That sounded terrified.  
Her eyes were closed and he knew she knew better than to pretend like this.  
"Wake up!" She said.  
"Please don't be dead!" She whispered.  
"No, you have to wake up!"  
She was now thrashing and crying in her sleep. He grabbed her hand without hesitation and she stopped.  
"You scared me." She mumbled.  
"It's okay. I'm not dead." He said quietly.  
Her response was to slow her breathing and snuggle back into the fabric, which he realised with quiet shock, was his cloak.  
He went back to his chair and focused on his untouched book. Or tried to at least. He kept pondering the odd sleeping behavior of his- his what? She was just a student to him. No more, no less.  
That was the time when he realised she must suffer from nightmares.  
And he slept better with her a few feet away than any potion, incantation or pill.

It was when Hermione moved against him that interrupted his reverie.  
"Sev?"  
"Yes?" He asked before kissing her. He kissed her everywhere his lips could reach.  
Her hair, her collarbone, her nose and cheeks.  
She turned herself so she faced him and kissed him on his lips.  
This was for comfort. This was the words he wouldn't say and the fears melting away with her touch, the unspoken worry, love, the way he made her feel safe and the way he wanted to comfort her. The way he said no one would hurt her.  
All without words. Unnecessary, clumsy words compared to how this felt.  
When they stopped kissing with lips, he held her tightly,his face in her hair.  
He loved her.  
The only thing he would ever be scared of losing.  
He let go but held her hand.  
"How are you feeling?" He asked.  
"Better." She said and smiled.  
"Glad you're here." She squeezed his hand and it melted him a bit.  
He left her there to make her breakfast in bed.  
He double checked the wards. Made them stronger. Only they was allowed in with passwords and spells.  
He shut off his brain while he cooked. Two eggs here, flip this now, put this on a plate. He made eggs, bacon, toast, tea, coffee and bangers. He put them all on a platter and levitated it to the bedroom, so it would land gently on the nightstand next to her.  
He made quick work of cleaning the mess. And went up to their bedroom.  
"This is amazing." She said around a bite of bacon.  
"Of course cooking is like potions with better ingredients and it's you know, solid generally." She said.  
He took some toast and smirked.  
"Of course."'  
They ate in comfortable silence and eventually she asked if he needed to to help the others for War Strategy.  
"No. They can go without me for a day"  
"I couldn't." She says quietly.  
"It's a wonder I ever did."  
" You're strong. You can go without me. It's me who can't go without you, my Lionheart."

"That may be true- but there's no room left in my heart for anyone about you. You rule my heart."  
"Well I was a Prince you know."  
"I know." She smiles at him.  
He wonders what he did to ever deserve his Lionheart. She's wondering what she did to deserve her King.  
"Hermione?"  
"Yes?"  
"What happened yesterday?"  
"I'd prefer you just look at the memory."  
"Alright."  
He gave her as long as she needed to mentally prepare herself.  
"Ready." She said after a few minutes.  
He carefully went into her mind,  
and she pulled the memory to the front.  
She was nervous when he left. She always was. It was silly of her; it was just Dumbledore and the Order, but still. She organized her books and read, listened to muggle music through a device she had charmed to work within Hogwarts' walls.

She heard a knock on the door and opened it. And saw the man she loved. Or who she thought was the man she loved. She pulled him through the doorway and as she shut the door, he picked her up bridal style to their bedroom.

"What about tea?" She asked. They always had tea when he came home and if it was late enough, it was decaf. "Be right back." He said and let her go on the bed. A moment later, he came back with a new tea. He handed her a cup and she drank it all. She told him she was going to take a nap.

She crawled under the covers and when she woke, she was on top of the sheets. She tried to move and realised her limbs were tied to the bedposts.

This was not her King and she was not this man's Lionheart. Someone had impersonated him and drugged her. She told them Severus Snape would not take kindly to this. He was not one to reconcile and he would make sure they would pay. Not exaggerations, not lies, truth. She was trying to protect whoever it was from her King's wrath. He was generally not swayed by anything, but his soft spot was his gorgeous girl. He nearly castrated McLaggen after she told him what she hadn't told anyone else. He tried to feel her up and she stepped on his shoe with her heel and hexed him. Her speech was interrupted with her scream. Slow torture and mind games she refused to play ensued. She stared them down when they tried to touch her. It was a cold, powerful gaze and she used the nonverbal spell he had taught her. It allowed the user to be numb from pain and touch. Even when she was worn out, and couldn't use it again, she didn't scream. She kept the doors to her mind shut tight. No reaction, she wouldn't let them have any satisfaction. She kept her gaze, a glare he would have been proud of.

Proud of. She looked like a Queen, his Spitfire did. Pain that she refused to acknowledge coursed through her. Every part of her. She recited things in her heavily guarded mind. Focus on something else. The muggle song she made him listen to that their nicknames from.

"But you're a King and I'm a Lionheart."  
What came next? Where was Severus?  
Focus. She wouldn't worry about him. He could take care of himself. She took a few minutes to convince herself of this, because while her mind knew, her heart worried.  
"Lionheart. His crown lit up the way as we moved slowly. Pass the wondering eyes of the ones that were left behind. Though far away, though far away, though far away-"  
She sang in her mind. She went through the song many times and then the lyrics:  
"'Cause you're my King and I'm your Lionheart." Came when he kissed her and got the slow working poison out of her mouth.  
Her King had come. He couldn't sense anything from her memories other than relief and love and she had such affection for him, and trying to make words and sense to express these things when he healed her. She melted against him and everything was okay. Her King-her King. He was here and she could do anything with him by her side. She loved him so much sometimes it took all she could not to burst it out whenever she thought of him. He carefully withdrew from her mind and told her how he loved her and why and how beautiful and strong she was, his Lionheart. She belonged with him and he was not foolish enough to think he could take on the world just because she was with him, but damn if he didn't feel damn near invincible with her by his side.  
She could do anything with him with next to her.  
"As the world comes to an end, I'll be here to hold your hand." She sang softly.  
He smiled as much as Severus Snape could. He did hold her hand and she gestured to lie next to her. He did.  
They fell asleep next to each other.


	2. Chapter 2

He was excited. He had found breakthrough to their problem. He dashed home or at least to his quarters. Where she was.

His gorgeous girl and her brilliant mind. She had been very affectionate that morning. She made him a cup of coffee and a pot of tea. When she had leaned up to kiss him he asked if anything was wrong. She had said, "No I just l-" and stopped like she had caught herself just in time. And kissed him. Finally he had to leave, right after they pulled apart and he checked her forehead.

For a fever, she guessed. One more kiss and he told her he had to leave. This was her least favorite part of the day. But he had to go. Be a part of the war effort.

She told him she'd be in the library when he got home. Or depending on how late he was, she'd be in their bed, reading. She had once confided to him that even with all their wards, she didn't feel safe until he was home. He had been late some nights and he would come home and see her pacing or in bed with a stack of read books.

He thought his idea would work, but he would run it by her first. He loved her amazing mind. Despite their age differences, they could easily bounce ideas off of each other.  
He opened the door and easily went through the wards, which accepted him. He checked the library and she wasn't there. He checked his watch. It was late enough she'd be in bed, but still awake.  
He flew up the stairs, eager to share his idea.  
He saw the comforter and blankets had been ripped off the bed. And in their bed, was his gorgeous girl, sleeping.  
Was his original thought. But she didn't sleep with her eyes open and her head at an awkward angle. She was dead.

When he walked closer, he noticed a hastily scribbled note. It read:  
To revive me  
Get the poison out  
it's in my mouth  
- Hermione  
He kissed her and found a lump by her cheek. He pulled back and took it out with his fingers. It looked like a piece of apple. He put that in a vial and magicked it to his lab.  
Her chest started rising a bit more and her eyes moved. "Sev-rus?" She asked, her voice a whisper. She saw two of them.  
That was when he saw the blood. It was all over. On her, soaking into the sheets, the walls, the carpet. He picked her up.  
"Sev-us?"  
"Shhhhh." He said.  
She leaned her head against him and said  
"I love you Severussss."  
"This you. Not the one over there."  
He was speechless. No one had ever told him that they loved him. But she held many firsts for him.  
"Look." She slurred. "If you are the real Severus, I love you I love so you so much. But if you're the fake please go. I don't want him to ever see me like this. You have to leave. He'll kill you."  
Severus agreed. He would find out who had done this. And they would pay.  
The phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" paled in comparison to his wrath.  
"What if I stay and kill him?" The other Severus suggested and grinned coldly.  
"No, no, oh please no don't hurt him hurt me instead just don't hurt Severus." She tried to plead.  
"Why?" Was the evil one's response.  
"Please I love him and I'm his. Only his and I can't deal with this world without him. He means the world to me and oh gods don't hurt him!"  
His only reply was "What happens when he doesn't want you any more?"  
"I will be his until he doesn't want me. I'd prefer forever..." Was her perfectly said response.  
He'd prefer forever too. He gently set her down in their large bathtub.  
He summoned several potions as he diagnosed her.  
Broken ribs, broken left arm, sprained ankle, dark bruises in abundance and cuts all over her body.  
He coaxed some SkelGrow down her throat, along with pain potions and then her eyes started closing.  
"Hermione?" He sounded alarmed, she thought sleepily.  
"Hermione! Stay awake! Listen to my voice! "Okay." She said. He had an amazing voice. It easily made it number two on reasons she was attracted to him. Number one being his amazing brain.  
"Hermione?"  
"Mmmm?"  
"I'm going to give you a potion and I need you to take it okay?"  
"M'kay." She said. She took the sky blue potion. It tasted like lemonade.  
He told her that he was going to start dealing with her cuts and bruises. He held her hand during that, knowing it would hurt. She cried out a few times. Whoever had done it had cut deep, in very surgical looking cuts.  
Oh yes. They would pay. As he progressed, he noticed that she was in her knickers. He frowned while cleaning out her cuts located by her ankle. She was wearing a sweater this morning, with a skirt. He remembered because she looked so stunning. She had caught him staring and had blushed. He loved her. But he was scared to say it. Didn't want to "jinx it" as the muggles would say. But he came to the conclusion that The bastard  
stripped her down  
tied her to their bed  
and hurt her  
He felt fury rise up at this, but looked at her, he stopped and decided to wash her up. He delicately used a flannel to get off the sticky potions and balms. She was looking at him, with an expression he couldn't decipher and then asked," why are there two of you?"  
She reached out to touch the hallucination. Her fingers went through. "He's not here is he?"  
"Hermione, are you hallucinating?"  
"Yes, I think so."  
"Take this."  
She took the green potion he handed her and the other one disappeared.  
"Better?" He asked.  
"Bett-r." She responded.  
He did a diagnostics test on her head to make sure she didn't have a concussion or anything wrong.  
She didn't.  
"Can I sleep now?" She asked, her voice still a whisper.  
He picked her up bridal style and told her she could. He carefully carried her and managed to duplicate the bed after a charm to make the room bigger. All while carrying an unconscious witch in his arms.  
He tucked her into the bed closest to the bathroom and changed into pajamas. He moved the beds together. He crawled into an empty bed. It felt odd without her. It took him longer to fall asleep than when his arms were around his witch.  
He woke up with a pleasantly warm back. Still groggy, he found her curled up against him in an odd way of spooning. He pulled her over him onto his bed so he was spooning her.  
He put his arms loosely over her and buried his face in her hair.  
She always smelled like vanilla. Whenever he smelled it, he thought of her. It was comforting now.  
But the smell used to drive him insane because it would linger so long and remind him of /her/. A person whom he had tried desperately to avoid because he didn't want to get close to anyone.  
Especially not one third of "the golden trio" who could for sure be used against him. With any form of relationship from death eaters.  
But she had saved him that, long before he would let himself talk to her.  
She had helped him one time when he was close to death after a meeting. It was not the worst state he had ever been in, but she had found him. Helped him even though he had been her nastiest teacher.  
She healed him and what astonished him was that she cared. She helped him and got him to his quarters. What he didn't hear was her fury at him almost dying by a group of psychopaths and no one else cared about the man who risked it all.  
Didn't hear her vow, that she would never let that happen again.  
A few meetings had passed since that point. She researched in her free time for solution. She found him after those meetings, with the help of Harry's map. Helped him, even when he didn't want her to. Which was all of the time. She saw how vulnerable he was when he slept, when she knocked him out one time to heal him. He was so stubborn. And one day, she came to help and it wasn't that bad, he said. She healed him and when he was awake, she performed the most complex piece of magic she had ever done. It needed time to form, and she left.  
She went back to her dorms and collapsed in her bed. For two days, with her bed curtains drawn. The last few days before Christmas break. Everyone was worried, especially him, considering he was the last one who saw her.  
No one knew that. The first time she helped, he told her to tell no one. She told him she never would. He was shocked, no one trusted him. He thought she would go running back and tell everyone. Or at least the-boy-who-lived-to-be-a-pain-in-his-arse or the daft Weasley boy.  
But she didn't. He woke up and there was another him.  
Like a living breathing him. It was an extraordinary piece of magic. There was a panic among the staff.  
Hermione Granger was missing and no one knew where she was. It was determined she never left the castle. So she was still in the castle somewhere.  
There was only two people in Gryffindor were her and some first year boy. As soon as every student was on the train, he went to Gryffindor tower, to where he hoped she would be. It was his fault. She could be anywhere from Slytherin territory to anywhere, including the room of requirement and if she was there, it would be damn near impossible to find out what she wanted and used the room for.  
He went to Gryffindor tower and found sixth year dorms. He managed to figure out whose beds belonged to whom. The one with the nightstand covered with books and closed curtains had to be hers. He pulled them back and saw a weakly disillusioned, sleeping Hermione. She wouldn't wake up. He levitated her, and they traveled to his quarters. He removed the spell once there. No one saw them. He got her on a couch. He diagnosed her and  
she was drained. She used too much magic by herself. Magical draining was deadly. He summoned a house elf and asked it to bring some food. It brought a lot of food and left.  
He looked at her. She was in a healing sleep. He needed to make potions to help her recover while she slept.  
So he did. He brewed, not needing a book. He brewed methodically, slicing and stirring. He made the potions with ease. About an hour later, he checked on her. He figured out that she'd be asleep for at least on more day. So he ate and kept watch over her. Around one in the morning, she woke up after two and a half days of sleep.

He didn't mean to fall asleep but that smell-that damned vanilla smell lulled him to sleep. When he woke up, a lot of food had been eaten. She was awake and standing over him.

"Professor? Professor Snape?" She asked.  
"Hmmm?" He said, still half asleep.  
"It's me."  
"So you're awake now?" He asked with more clarity.  
"I thought I left your rooms." She said, with confusion.  
"You did. That magick you did knocked you out for almost three days, while invisible by your own hand, everyone was worried about you and you missed two days of classes, people worried Death Eaters took you or worse.  
"You were worried about me, Professor?"  
"I was the last person to see you before you went missing. Unofficially of course."  
"That is-TWO DAYS OF CLASSES?"  
"Calm down. Mostly reviews and fooling around. "  
"Of course not in your class."  
"Definitely not." He said.  
"May I ask you what the hell you were thinking?"  
Around a bite of sandwich, she asked,  
"Professor?"  
"Out for two days straight. No one knew where you were. You could have died- you could have lost your magic!"  
"But it was for a good cause." She quietly defended.  
"And what cause was that, Miss Granger?  
"You." She quietly admitted.  
Confusion shot through his mind.  
"What exactly was that spell's intended purpose?"  
"I used it to take form of an aspect of you from part of your life."  
"He's supposed to be me at Death Eater meetings? Are you mad, girl?"  
"Well-"  
"You could have died for a spell that could have gone faulty on my behalf and I would not only have more blood on my hands, I would be held responsible for your demise!"  
"Did you think of that?" He demanded.  
She answered with a question of her own, "Did it work?"  
The question threw him off.  
"Yes."  
"Okay, you just need to duplicate and place memories into it, teach it to act like you. It should work, although I recommend you try it out with class or something before you send it to the Death Eater meetings. He'll get hurt, but he's easily heal able and you can be safe and no more almost dying from them and you can access his mind undetected by other people, like a robot or a puppet and control him. And my magickal signature isn't on it. So there's no need to worry about finding that it's not really you."  
He was touched by the idea that she nearly died-in a roundabout way-for him, for his safety. She then collapsed.  
He caught her, and managed to move things around to change the couch to a bed. And waited once more until she woke up to give her those potions.  
She shouldn't have woken up that soon.  
What happened? Damn it he should have given them to her when she did.  
He went to the loo and then grabbed a book  
to read, and transfigured his chair to something very comfortable. He put instructions by the potions that she would notice when she woke up. But that book stayed on the table. The vanilla smell lulled him to sleep. It was a combination of several things, lack of sleep, the smell, his exhaustion, insomnia, the nightmares he would never confess to having. He was out like a light in a second.  
He dreamed of things he couldn't remember and he kept waiting for nightmares. They never came. But when he woke up, all he could remember was vanilla.  
Miss Granger had taken the potions as per his instructions and slept again.  
It was odd that their roles had reversed, he mused. He checked for a fever, any signs of her condition worsening, but there were none. He did notice her shivering. He put his cloak on her as he tried to remember where the blankets were. He went off to go get them from his bedroom closet.  
During that time, Hermione had woken up in panic, and calmed when she saw where she was. She also was comforted by his cloak. It was very warm, like she had imagined. It smelled like potions ingredients and spices. If she had to name a scent that defined Potions, it would be the smell of his cloak. She always wondered what it would be like to walk around this drafty castle with this cloak. It was warm and nice and she barely stayed awake.  
She saw him come back and pretended to be asleep. Slow, quiet breaths.  
He put a few blankets on top of her, and then turned his back to coax the last embers of the fire back to life. She gratefully sank into the warmth. Most of all, she clung to his cloak. She fell asleep to the smell of it.  
He watched her while she was sleeping for a moment.  
She was on her side and was curled up and one of the blankets was pulled up more than the others.  
She shifted and seemed to bury her face in it. He was curious what it was, and then he heard her say, "Professor?  
"Yes?" He asked.  
"Professor!" She sounded alarmed.  
"Yes Miss Granger?" He asked.  
She started mumbling things he couldn't understand and then a  
"Professor Snape please wake up!" That sounded terrified.  
Her eyes were closed and he knew she knew better than to pretend like this.  
"Wake up!" She said.  
"Please don't be dead!" She whispered.  
"No, you have to wake up!"  
She was now thrashing and crying in her sleep. He grabbed her hand without hesitation and she stopped.  
"You scared me." She mumbled.  
"It's okay. I'm not dead." He said quietly.  
Her response was to slow her breathing and snuggle back into the fabric, which he realised with quiet shock, was his cloak.  
He went back to his chair and focused on his untouched book. Or tried to at least. He kept pondering the odd sleeping behavior of his- his what? She was just a student to him. No more, no less.  
That was the time when he realised she must suffer from nightmares.  
And he slept better with her a few feet away than any potion, incantation or pill.

It was when Hermione moved against him that interrupted his reverie.  
"Sev?"  
"Yes?" He asked before kissing her. He kissed her everywhere his lips could reach.  
Her hair, her collarbone, her nose and cheeks.  
She turned herself so she faced him and kissed him on his lips.  
This was for comfort. This was the words he wouldn't say and the fears melting away with her touch, the unspoken worry, love, the way he made her feel safe and the way he wanted to comfort her. The way he said no one would hurt her.  
All without words. Unnecessary, clumsy words compared to how this felt.  
When they stopped kissing with lips, he held her tightly,his face in her hair.  
He loved her.  
The only thing he would ever be scared of losing.  
He let go but held her hand.  
"How are you feeling?" He asked.  
"Better." She said and smiled.  
"Glad you're here." She squeezed his hand and it melted him a bit.  
He left her there to make her breakfast in bed.  
He double checked the wards. Made them stronger. Only they was allowed in with passwords and spells.  
He shut off his brain while he cooked. Two eggs here, flip this now, put this on a plate. He made eggs, bacon, toast, tea, coffee and bangers. He put them all on a platter and levitated it to the bedroom, so it would land gently on the nightstand next to her.  
He made quick work of cleaning the mess. And went up to their bedroom.  
"This is amazing." She said around a bite of bacon.  
"Of course cooking is like potions with better ingredients and it's you know, solid generally." She said.  
He took some toast and smirked.  
"Of course."'  
They ate in comfortable silence and eventually she asked if he needed to to help the others for War Strategy.  
"No. They can go without me for a day"  
"I couldn't." She says quietly.  
"It's a wonder I ever did."  
" You're strong. You can go without me. It's me who can't go without you, my Lionheart."

"That may be true- but there's no room left in my heart for anyone about you. You rule my heart."  
"Well I was a Prince you know."  
"I know." She smiles at him.  
He wonders what he did to ever deserve his Lionheart. She's wondering what she did to deserve her King.  
"Hermione?"  
"Yes?"  
"What happened yesterday?"  
"I'd prefer you just look at the memory."  
"Alright."  
He gave her as long as she needed to mentally prepare herself.  
"Ready." She said after a few minutes.  
He carefully went into her mind,  
and she pulled the memory to the front.  
She was nervous when he left. She always was. It was silly of her; it was just Dumbledore and the Order, but still. She organized her books and read, listened to muggle music through a device she had charmed to work within Hogwarts' walls.

She heard a knock on the door and opened it. And saw the man she loved. Or who she thought was the man she loved. She pulled him through the doorway and as she shut the door, he picked her up bridal style to their bedroom.

"What about tea?" She asked. They always had tea when he came home and if it was late enough, it was decaf. "Be right back." He said and let her go on the bed. A moment later, he came back with a new tea. He handed her a cup and she drank it all. She told him she was going to take a nap.

She crawled under the covers and when she woke, she was on top of the sheets. She tried to move and realised her limbs were tied to the bedposts.

This was not her King and she was not this man's Lionheart. Someone had impersonated him and drugged her. She told them Severus Snape would not take kindly to this. He was not one to reconcile and he would make sure they would pay. Not exaggerations, not lies, truth. She was trying to protect whoever it was from her King's wrath. He was generally not swayed by anything, but his soft spot was his gorgeous girl. He nearly castrated McLaggen after she told him what she hadn't told anyone else. He tried to feel her up and she stepped on his shoe with her heel and hexed him. Her speech was interrupted with her scream. Slow torture and mind games she refused to play ensued. She stared them down when they tried to touch her. It was a cold, powerful gaze and she used the nonverbal spell he had taught her. It allowed the user to be numb from pain and touch. Even when she was worn out, and couldn't use it again, she didn't scream. She kept the doors to her mind shut tight. No reaction, she wouldn't let them have any satisfaction. She kept her gaze, a glare he would have been proud of.

Proud of. She looked like a Queen, his Spitfire did. Pain that she refused to acknowledge coursed through her. Every part of her. She recited things in her heavily guarded mind. Focus on something else. The muggle song she made him listen to that their nicknames from.

"But you're a King and I'm a Lionheart."  
What came next? Where was Severus?  
Focus. She wouldn't worry about him. He could take care of himself. She took a few minutes to convince herself of this, because while her mind knew, her heart worried.  
"Lionheart. His crown lit up the way as we moved slowly. Pass the wondering eyes of the ones that were left behind. Though far away, though far away, though far away-"  
She sang in her mind. She went through the song many times and then the lyrics:  
"'Cause you're my King and I'm your Lionheart." Came when he kissed her and got the slow working poison out of her mouth.  
Her King had come. He couldn't sense anything from her memories other than relief and love and she had such affection for him, and trying to make words and sense to express these things when he healed her. She melted against him and everything was okay. Her King-her King. He was here and she could do anything with him by her side. She loved him so much sometimes it took all she could not to burst it out whenever she thought of him. He carefully withdrew from her mind and told her how he loved her and why and how beautiful and strong she was, his Lionheart. She belonged with him and he was not foolish enough to think he could take on the world just because she was with him, but damn if he didn't feel damn near invincible with her by his side.  
She could do anything with him with next to her.  
"As the world comes to an end, I'll be here to hold your hand." She sang softly.  
He smiled as much as Severus Snape could. He did hold her hand and she gestured to lie next to her. He did.  
They fell asleep next to each other.

Suddenly he was cold. He opened his eyes. He was in the dungeon. The dungeon of the Malfoy Manor.

He was bloody. Someone was torturing him.

Hermione. She was grinning. A horrible malicious grin. She cast spells in the way she taught him, all at once. She knew what hurt and how he'd grit his teeth. How he tried to restrain his screams because he didn't let them have the satisfaction or show pain. So she hurt his face. His jaws. That sensitive spot on his back. He screamed. A figure came to stand next to her. Voldemort and they said words he couldn't hear over his screaming. She hurt him and hurt him and bruised his muscles, turned his skin into ribbons. And when he was almost dead, waiting for the death blow, for mercy of death, she stopped. Disappeared and then she was next to him. Bleeding. Nearly dead. She didn't even see him. Or hear him.

He managed to reach his arm to touch her, her beautiful cheek. . She moved though, opened her mouth and vomited Nagnini out, unscathed. Then his girl slumped over, cheek touching a bloody and disgusting floor, a giant rip from the other cheek, not the one he touched, her right cheek, down to her shoulder appeared. Her eyes were glassy. And then the snake lunged for him. He screamed so loud he was sure it would wake the dead.  
He screamed and it happened in slow motion, he was in too much pain, leaning against the wall to move.

He was going to die. He had never been so sure of anything in his life. The fangs hit his throat, ripping and tearing and he didn't think he could scream louder, but he did.  
He wasn't the only one screaming.  
Hermione went to the loo and rushed back when she heard his screaming. He was thrashing. What happened?  
"Severus?" She asked.  
She kept saying his name and started screaming it. He grabbed her arm and she was grabbed and screamed by his ear. She managed to wrench her arm out of his grip. She slapped him. Cast spells. He hadn't had a nightmare in weeks. Although that word sounded too weak. More like a night terror. Night-hell. He was scaring her. Very few things he even deemed the title of "unnerving." She kissed his lips. Kissed him and the screaming stopped. He responded back. He kissed her back and finally he was okay. She sighed in relief and pulled away. Strong arms embraced her and lips kissed her hungrily as if he had been craving it.  
She was okay. She was here and his and alive, on his side. His gorgeous girl. Her kisses were better than any wine, more addictive than any drug he tried when trying to rebel against his father. Every sound she made was infinitely more fascinating than the dark arts and light arts, better than any book be had ever read. It wasn't until her cheeks were wet and not from her eyes did she embrace him. She held him. Kisses were for comfort, full of relief that that hell wasn't reality. They were safe, alive and together.


End file.
